Painted Wall
Dive site
A sheer cliff face on the south side of Dead Chest Island drops from 6 metres to beyond 40, its surface alive with purple, orange, and yellow encrusting sponges that give the site its name. Visibility here routinely tops 25 metres because the site faces the open Sir Francis Drake Channel. Nurse sharks rest in the recesses at the wall base and hawksbill turtles quarter the drop-off throughout the year. A textbook Caribbean wall dive with minimal current and outsized colour.
Conditions
Depth
6 to 40 m
Advanced depths
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
15 to 25 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
26 to 30°C
Tropical wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Vis (m) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 20 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Hawksbill sea turtle
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Nurse shark
Photo: Rafael de la Parra · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Rock beauty angelfish
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Creole wrasse
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Bar jack
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Field journal
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